"Xia Feng."
A deep, bubbly male voice spoke from above, and after Xia Feng had taken a scoop of egg custard, he looked up, "What is it, speak."
He had met that refined plump man named Panda a few times, but it was his first encounter with Yan Xujia today.
Seeing that Xia Feng did not intend to stop eating, but rather assumed the posture of a boss listening to reports from subordinates, Yan Xujia could not help but frown.
Placing his hand on the chair, Yan Xujia's handsome face revealed a smile, "May I sit here?"
Xia Feng glanced over and was about to speak when—zap—Yan Xujia had already pulled out the chair and sat down.
The surroundings were very quiet, Yan Xujia's arrival had drawn nearly everyone in the restaurant's gaze to this small table.
Mushroom, unable to bear the panicky feeling of being the center of attention, subconsciously clenched Xia Feng's clothes under the table.
Yan Xujia casually set up a sound barrier around them and said with a light smile, "Xia Feng, you don't need to be nervous. I am here today simply to make a deal with you."
"A deal?" Xia Feng perked up upon hearing this, instantly understanding, "You want me to stay away from your goddess, right? Okay, I get it. Ten million, and I promise not to badmouth you to your goddess."
"..." Yan Xujia was about to speak, but the words choked back in his throat for a full three seconds. He spoke in a grave voice, "What I desire is not only that—"
"Oh? What else do you want?" Xia Feng frowned.
Yan Xujia took a deep breath, reclaiming the initiative and said quietly while tapping on the table, "Xia Feng, you may not yet know about the Holy Daughter Trial. Let me put it this way, the four preparatory Holy Daughters—"
"I know that, cut the crap and get straight to the point," Xia Feng interjected with a frown.
"..." Yan Xujia choked again, puzzled how this guy seemed to know everything?!
But it was also good, saving him the trouble of explanation. He interlaced his fingers and placed his arms vertically on the table, his gaze calm, "Since you already know, then I'll skip the unnecessary details. Nai Xue chose to cultivate 'Lonely Moon,' which naturally requires minimizing attachments, and the best way is through death."
As he spoke, Yan Xujia smiled playfully, "But obviously, we can't really kill you, can we~"
Panda had warned him not to assassinate Xia Feng again, but he hadn't said he couldn't do anything else.
"So, I thought of a reliable method, and I will need your help for it."
Yan Xujia's lips twisted strangely, yet his tone was sincere, "Considering our old acquaintance, I assume you would be willing to make a small sacrifice for Nai Xue's future, right~"
None of my business... Although Xia Feng internally ridiculed, he still nodded smilingly, "Alright, I'm the most naive, pure, and kind-hearted person, let's hear it, let me see if I can help."
"Don't worry, it's not something troublesome."
Yan Xujia's face was full of smiles, "You just need to agree to two conditions."
"Hmm?"
"First, hand over the pocket watch Nai Xue gave you; second, agree to go to the Northern Territory, and you must not leave the Northern Territory for ten years."
"As compensation, I can write you a letter of recommendation to join the Marquis of Dongbo's domain and become an honorable Knight of the Marquis's domain."
"...?" Xia Feng's spoonful of egg custard paused, and he looked up silently for a long time, thinking only one word in his mind—this guy must be crazy....
The Empire and the Evil Clan had been at war for thousands of years, with two frontier regions: the Northern Territory (Zone 49) and the Southern Border (Zone 13).
These areas could not be described as disorderly, only very chaotic.
The Northern Territory had been relatively peaceful for the past few years, not so the Southern Border; it wasn't a daily battle there, but it was constant fighting every second.
And Xia Feng, a seasoned lazybones who'd rather lie down than sit, was supposed to leave Zone 51? Dream on! Not to mention the Northern Territory, a place where war could break out again at any moment.
As for the pocket watch, it was a keepsake exchanged in childhood with Cha Naixue, and Cha Naixue also had one of his.
"How about that, this deal is quite fair, isn't it?"
Yan Xujia murmured with a faint smile, "You don't physically need to die, just fade out of your master's life, gradually erasing traces, and naturally, the bond will lessen its restraint on your master's cultivation."
Seeing Xia Feng still leisurely eating his egg custard, ignoring him, Yan Xujia frowned and continued shaking his head,
"Looking at you like this, you probably haven't grasped the significance of becoming a knight for the Marquis's lands."
With that, he gestured behind him with a beckoning hand.
"Introduce yourselves to this young brother."
At his gesture, several youths blocking the glow of the setting sun stepped forward, one of them boldly took a step forward, staring at Xia Feng with a confident smile: "I'm Luo De, a Holy Light Knight of the Marquis, honored with three stars of glory and given the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; my father is the Commander of the Third Legion of the Northern Territory."
After finishing, he stepped back one step with his back straight, standing under the sunlight, upright throughout.
Following him, a tall, thin man stepped forward with a calm tone as if discussing mundane matters: "Huo Yisen, Holy Light Knight of the Marquis, honored with five stars of glory, granted the rank of Major General, twenty-five years old this year."
"I'm Xi Jia, Silver Radiance Knight of the Marquis, honored with two stars of glory, my father is Earl Xi Le, and my mother the president of Sky Commerce, possessing personal assets over a billion."
"...?" Xia Feng listened silently, feeling an indescribable sense of powerlessness, akin to children boasting among schoolmates.
"Qiu Li, Holy Light Knight of the Marquis, honored with four stars of glory, my father....."
Altogether eight people, each either proudly or indifferently completing their introductions, making Xia Feng's eyelids twitch, were these people showing off to me?
But indeed, they did have the capital to do so, each of them being sons of nobility.
"Let me tell you a secret," Yan Xujia said, chuckling lowly, "Actually, I am the second son of the Marquis himself—the son of a Marquis! Understand now? By becoming a knight of my Eastern Marquis region, you will have the fastest promotion path, even a chance to earn a title, and also gain the friendship of nobility from the Northern Territory; your future is bright."
Whether bright or not Xia Feng didn't know, but he thought this deal was pretty foolish.
Seeing Xia Feng frowning, seemingly pondering something, Yan Xujia grew a bit impatient, "If you are worried about the engagement with the Mu family, you need not be, the head of the Mu family is merely a small Viscount, and I have plenty of ways to bring Ms. Mu to the Northern Territory with you."
Saying so, he straightened his collar and stood up with a lofty demeanor, "So, Xia Feng, you have no objections to this deal, right?"
He and the eight towering knights behind him just quietly watched Xia Feng, eighteen eyes uniformly indifferent.
Silence.
The soundproofing screen had already been removed, and while the bustling students in the restaurant didn't know what initially happened, they still heard the last few points of sharp confrontation.
A surreal and overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere quietly spread.
They instinctively held their breath, their gazes focusing on the black-haired young man quietly eating egg custard in the middle.
Xia Feng dropped his spoon back into the bowl: "Honestly, Yan Xujia, I have a question."
"What?"
Xia Feng smiled lightly, leaning back, "With you being so servile, does your Cha goddess know?"
Yan Xujia's face imperceptibly stiffened, his tone turning hostile: "I'm not servile!"
Xia Feng remained silent with a smirk, well aware that behind Cha Naixue's three Guardian Knights were big nobilities, and positions of Silver and Panda were quite stable, only Yan Xujia had been nearly dismissed by Cha Naixue several times.
And each time, Yan Xujia would bring substantial resources from his family to Cha Naixue, asking for a chance to redeem his mistakes and not to be stripped of his position...
In Xia Feng's understanding of this interest-oriented woman, she'd discard the useless and exploit the useful until there was nothing left.
If Yan Xujia couldn't become an heir, couldn't become valuable like Silver and Panda, he would eventually be thoroughly discarded once there were no resources left to exploit.
Pondering for a while, Xia Feng looked up, tapping the table, "Let me put it this way, it's not about whether I have objections or not, but whether your offer is even feasible."